Conservation implications of limited genetic diversity and population structure in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii).

ABSTRACT: Tasmanian devils face a combination of threats to persistence, including Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), an epidemic transmissible cancer. We used RAD sequencing to investigate genome-wide patterns of genetic diversity and geographic population structure. Consistent with previous results, we found very low genetic diversity in the species as a whole, and we detected two broad genetic clusters occupying the northwestern portion of the range, and the central and eastern portions. However, these two groups overlap across a broad geographic area, and differentiation between them is modest (F_ST = 0.1081). Our results refine the geographic extent of the zone of mixed ancestry and substructure within it, potentially informing management of genetic variation that existed in pr

SUBMITTER: Hendricks S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5614444 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature